Making goals for 2015

I’m not one for new year’s resolutions. I learnt many many years ago that they’re a recipe for failure. However I am one for goals and dreams. Around about this time last year I blogged about mine and Hubs’s plans for 2014. It was scary to commit my goals to “paper”, and then to share them with the world, but it makes you far more accountable and likely to achieve your goals. So let’s see what I mentioned in January 2014 and where I am now:

Goal: Blog more often with good quality posts

Reality: I think I blogged a bit more in 2014 than in 2013, but probably not tons more, or as much as I thought/hoped I would.

Goal: Write and publish my bilingual children’s book

Reality: Tick! The first book in my bilingual children’s book series, The Adventures of Elodie / Les Aventures d’Elodie is called Elodie and the Pirates / Elodie et les Pirates and it was published in December last year 🙂 It took a hell of a lot longer than I thought it would, but I’m really pleased with the feedback as it seems to be very popular and useful, as well as enjoyable from what I can tell! You can get your own copy (paperback or Kindle) from Amazon – watch out though as the paperback price goes up to £7.99 on Friday! Or you can get the Kindle, PDF and EPUB e-book from our own website, Elodie Publications (along with lots of other information).

Elodie and the Pirates front cover

Front page of Elodie and the Pirates / Elodie et les Pirates

Goal: Hubs to launch his online training programme in French for people wanting to learn to invest in the stock market

Reality: I’m delighted to say that Hubs had a very successful launch last autumn, so successful in fact that he will be holding another launch of his training programme next week.

Goal: Launch a food blog with Hubs

Reality: Tick. Hubs and I launched Franglaise Cooking in January last year and were bowled over by the popularity of the blog. We were even shortlisted for a BiB in the Food category just months after launching. We both loved working on Franglaise Cooking, but sadly it has had to go on the back burner (no pun intended) for now, whilst we concentrate on Hubs’s training programme and my bilingual books.

Prawns flambeeing with pastis from www.FranglaiseCooking.com

Prawns flambeeing with pastis from our Franglaise Cooking food blog

Why were these goals such a success?

Not because I’m some kind of magician or special, lucky person. But because I wrote them down. I shared them with the world, making me accountable. And I went back to them, again and again, throughout the year, to check I was on track.

As last year’s goals went so well I’ve decided to share my goals for 2015 with you too. And because I want to be held accountable. I want to get off my backside and reach these goals so I can come back and share that with you this time next year.

I also discovered a life coach, Leonie Dawson, in December who has an incredible yearly workbook*, to help you take stock of the previous year and plan the year ahead. Using her workbook has helped me be really clear in what I’m working towards this year, and I can’t recommend using them enough if you’re serious about making things happen this year. (It is never too late to make goals – I revised some of my goals in September last year.)

Dreamboards and Leonie Dawson 2015 workbook l www.FranglaiseMummy.com l French and English Parenting and Lifestyle Ramblings

The dreamboards I created along with my 2015 workbook

Franglaise Mummy’s goals for 2015

Biz goals

  • Earn £30K from my business. So this year I’m actually putting a number on how much I want to earn, and I’m sharing it. Now it’s down to me to try and reach that goal!
  • The Adventures of Elodie / Les Aventures d’Elodie : Work at promoting and selling Elodie and the Pirates. Finish work on Elodie and the Dinosaurs and publish it. Start work on Elodie and the Air Raid.
  • Elodie press coverage: Work on getting press coverage for my Elodie books.
  • Franglaise Life: Create an online community to support parents raising bilingual children, parents who want their children to learn English or French as a foreign language, and adults looking to improve their English/French. (This has already started with a Facebook group I created last week which has already got over 120 members, don’t hesitate to join us if this sounds like your kind of thing.)
Franglaise Life Facebook Group l www.FranglaiseMummy.com l French and English Parenting and Lifestyle Ramblings

Franglaise Life Facebook Group cover photo

  •  Franglaise Life training/help: Create some kind of training/help for the aforementioned community, using and sharing my own knowledge of language learning and teaching, as well as raising bilingual children.

Life/Personal goals

  • More quality time: I want to spend more quality time with Hubs, with our girls, with friends and family, and with myself. In order to achieve this I am cutting drastically back on screen time (which started a bit last summer with my digital detox), including switching off at 8pm in the evening and having no-screen Sundays.
Franglaise Family on New Year's Eve l www.FranglaiseMummy.com l French and English Parenting and Lifestyle Ramblings

Franglaise Family on New Year’s Eve

  • Good friendships: I really struggle to call time on friendships, it’s hard when you were really good friends with someone, maybe from years ago, to say stop. But I have some friendships that I know are bad for me – toxic friendships – and I have decided to say enough is enough, and not to waste any negative energy on them anymore. (Don’t worry, the people I’m talking about do not read my blog, so if you are reading this, and are my friend, it’s not you!) By freeing up this time and emotion I am ready to invest in my real, good, friendships, and have declared a 3am club for my good friends. So I sent an email to these good friends, letting them know that I was there for them if they needed me, including at 3am. My aim is to spend more, quality time with my good friends this year.
Old female friends reunited www.FranglaiseMummy.com

With my two old friends from Nice, reunited in a London pub.

  • Healthier me: I am generally a healthy person. I walk a fair amount (we don’t have a car), I don’t drink massive amounts, I don’t eat tons of junk food, I eat fairly healthily in general. But things have started to slip, and I don’t want to diet, I want to be healthy. So I’m working on drinking 2 litres of water a day, eating 3 pieces of fruit a day and thinking twice about drinking mid-week or munching on chocolate in front of the TV in the evening. I’m also working on bringing meditation into my daily routine, along with exercise – walking more, and doing a DVD first thing in the morning: Zumba, Yoga or Pilates. I want to treat my body and mind a little bit better this year.
  • Helping others: last year I helped raise a decent amount of money for Sport Relief through the London leg of Team Honk’s relay: Honkopoly.
    Honkopoly at Comic Relief HQ l www.FranglaiseMummy.com l French and English parenting and lifestyle ramblings

    From left to right: Vanessa from HPMcQ, me (with my eyes shut!), Jennifer from Jenography, Sarah from Grenglish and Angela from SE Mags)

    I got an enormous out of it personally, but also knowing what I was doing to help others. This year I have signed up to Team Honk’s Danceathon at Wembley, where I will be dancing for 6 hours (mostly non-stop) for charity. Once the sponsorship pages go up I will be asking for your contribution! Don’t hesitate to sign up and join in too 🙂 Hubs and I will also be carrying on our sponsorship of a little Haitian girl through Action Aid’s Sponsor a child programme. Finally I really want to look into fostering a child. A while ago I was umming and ahhing over having a third baby, but I’m 99% certain that this subject is closed now. However I have thought about fostering for years now, since L was a baby, and it’s something I really want to explore this year.

  • Hobbies and interests: I have recently launched a neighbourhood book club (well a book / wine club to be honest), and our first meeting was a great success, so I hope to see that flourish this year. When I was at school I sang in 3 school choirs and since I left I have missed that singing in a group. I have toyed with the idea of joining a choir for so long now, but I think 2015 is the year to go for it, sign up and start singing.

That’s a lot of goals, which have brought about a change in my daily routines so I have time to fit in everything I need and want to happen in my life. Now I just need to commit to these goals, revisit them regularly and see what happens….

Do you make goals? Do you write them down? Would you share them publicly? Have any of your 2014 goals come true?

I’m linking this blog post up to a fab linky run by the lovely Michelle from Bod for Tea, called Share the Joy, which I just love as one of my big words for 2015 is “Happiness”. Click on the image below to find some other joyful blog posts:

Share the Joy linky at bodfortea.co.uk

 

*This is an affiliate link, meaning I get money back if you buy through this link (it is the same price for you though). I am recommending this because I think it is AMAZING and it has really helped me clarify my goals for 2015.

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19 Responses

  1. Totally LOVE this post from you Sophie! You had some really big, challenging goals last year and you blew them out of the water – I just know that this year is going to be amazing for you too! I’m so proud to have you as a friend and can’t wait to share more about your fab book over at Bod for tea later this month. We MUST get together soon! Thank you too for the mention and for linking up to #sharethejoy xx
    Michelle Reeves recently posted…How to make sure you’re not one of the 50 percentMy Profile

    • Franglaise Mummy says:

      Thanks lovely, and thanks for all your motivational support over the year too 🙂 2015 is going to be a FAB year! Excited about appearing on your blog soon, and yes we MUST get together soon xx

  2. These are fantastic goals, I fully co-sign on at least 80% of them. It was fab doing Honkopoly last year (and where I met you in person I believe) and really hoping I can do the danceathon this year too.

    I always give myself a little leeway with New Year’s resolutions as my birthday is so early in the year (Feb 6, close to yours right??), and I figure that’s when my year really starts. But I do intend to blog as part of that accountability element, and to include other posts I’ve enjoyed so will let you know when I do. Good luck with your goals!
    Uju @Babesabouttown recently posted…Win £44 Kids Picnic Set from Tendre Deal! (Babes Birthday Giveaways)My Profile

    • Franglaise Mummy says:

      Honkopoly was so much fun last year, I’m excited – and nervous – about doing the danceathon this year! That’s right, our birthdays are massively close together – I’m the 5th. Maybe that’s why I don’t do resolutions as I want the fun to carry on until at least my birthday 😉 Do let me know when you post with your goals for this year x

  3. Mrs TeePot says:

    That’s a lot of goals, but I’m 100% sure you can achieve them! Congratulations on your goals from last year, you’re rocking and rolling at life by the sounds of it!
    Mrs TeePot recently posted…Share the Joy: SnowMy Profile

    • Franglaise Mummy says:

      Thanks lovely. I decided to set myself a fair amount this year after seeing what I managed to achieve last year. Now to crack on with them!

  4. Absolutely fabulous post about your fabulous achievements. Well done to you, and to your hubby! Here is to fulfilling all your goals for 2015! I also don’t do resolutions, but am up for goals.
    Mirka Moore @Fitness4Mamas recently posted…No More Monthly Miseries!My Profile

  5. Amanda says:

    Wow! You achieved your goals so amazingly last year and have set some really high ones for this year… way to go. I can’t wait to see how you go about achieving them throughout the year… good luck!

    • Franglaise Mummy says:

      Thanks. It’s a bit scary setting them, and putting them out there, but that’s how you get things done, by getting out of your comfort zone!

  6. It’s such a good idea to write down goals – must get onto that now! Sounds as though 2015 will be a big year for you, but what a fantastic achievement to publish Elodie. I have a few bilingual parent friends, I’ll mention that and your community to them.
    Nell@PigeonPairandMe.com recently posted…London’s Science Museum: our highlightsMy Profile

    • Franglaise Mummy says:

      Thanks for mentioning Elodie to your friends Nell. I think writing down goals is such a big deal as then you become accountable and it’s easier to push yourself to carry them out.

  7. Kate Davis says:

    I’ve heard many times that it is important to write goals down, because your sub concious continues working on it even when you’re not consciously taking action.

    I had ideas for 2014, but forgot to write them down. I’ve got further this year and written some outlines out, but not in the detail you have. You have inspired me to have another ago and you’re reminded me of at least one I haven’t written down.

    Congratulations on your books. And I’m going to tell my friend about your Facebook group .
    Kate Davis recently posted…Project 365 organisationMy Profile

    • Franglaise Mummy says:

      Do it Kate! It makes such a big difference. Creating a dreamboard helps too. The more detailed you are the better too. Thanks for sharing my Facebook group with your friends too.

  8. Wow, Sophie, I’m so impressed with all you achieved last year! Your goals this year sound amazing, and how wonderful you’re thinking of fostering. I am inspired to write down my goals now – I don’t think I will publish them this time though. Good luck achieving everything you are targeting, I’m sure you will have great success! X
    Jess Paterson recently posted…Life’s Too Short to Ice A MushroomMy Profile

    • Franglaise Mummy says:

      Thanks lovely 🙂 Write them down, it makes such a difference, and it’s amazing what you can achieve when you put your mind to it! x

  9. Gcroft says:

    Amazing goals, Sophie. Best of luck for 2015 and look forward to reading your end of year review already! x
    Gcroft recently posted…Please say hello…My Profile

    • Franglaise Mummy says:

      Thanks lovely, now I’d better knuckle down and get cracking on those goals! x

  1. 21/01/2015

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